The date was June 6 and I was at it again. Every year on that date, I fly, weather, cash flow and family permitting, as a sort of tribute to my dad who took part in the Normandy landings.

I studied the Met forecasts and charts and decided that the moderate offshore breee would trigger a sea breeze front.

I declared a triangle, Lasham, Old Sarum, North Hill, double checked everything and got a launch. The first half hour was a bit of a struggle but then I saw the hazy curtain forming, found the best lift on the inland side and set off in a general easterly direction.

I was soon able to maintain a healthy 65kts in relatively stable air without sinking and settled down to enjoy the day at about 4000ft. The weather began to deteriorate somewhere just past Dorchester and the smooth rising air became very rough. I slowed a bit and gained more height and at about 5500ft was suddenly in violent sink.

I was now approaching Blandford Forum and a hasty check on the GPS showed Compton Abbas, which at 900ft could be too far away. There was a disused airfield at Tarrant Rushton only about four miles away, it had to be that.

Sinking rapidly now and taking a good look at a golf course for a landing area, there was a sudden shaft of sunlight and I could see a glider high above me. I altered my position slightly and was in lift. Cirling in the sunlight, I began to climb and as I got nearer to the glider, I saw it was like no other I had ever seen. It was and ungainly and had three broad white stripes on each wing and the centre fuselage.

A bit shaken, I had a drink and allowed myself to settle down. The weather had settled and at this height I hardly needed to look for lift before reaching Lasham. I decided to abandon the task and landed, parked the glider, arranged for a tow home and went to the clubhouse for a cuppa.

Cup in hand, I sat with an old timer, who I am sure was sitting in the same seat on my last visit; perhaps he lived there.

I related my experiences of the day to him and he looked at me and said "That would be the 'Tarrant Angel'. Those gliders were built for carrying troops for the D-Day landings and were not capable of soaring". He produced his logbook and showed me a tiny illustration of the self same glider on an earlier entry, dated June 6. "There are not many of us but I have seen it too. The gliders were based at Tarrant Rushton airfield. They were built for one purpose only, to get to ground, and were quite incapable of soaring. Not one of them survived the war".

A little uneasily I made my way back to the launch point and chatted to the tug pilot. I found good lift half way home and released to an uneventful return.

Later when I got out my logbook to make an entry, I found an illustration of a tiny glider. I know I never made the entry but am sure someone or something was looking after me on that day.